This Cheese Casserole Is a Sticky Hot Masterpiece
Hello and welcome back to Will It Casserole? , a column in which I take your delicious concepts and reimagine them as delicious casserole creations. Today we take one of my favorite dishes – cheese – and turn into one hot one.
With a choice between a sticky sweet pie and a bunch of smelly cheese, I almost always choose a cheese platter as my last meal. The cheese platter is fun for several reasons, the main one being cheese, but there is also an interactive component. Pairing cheese with a variety of nuts, fruits, and other accessories allows you to live your own adventure, but decisions are sometimes stressful and I wanted to taste the whole plate in one bite. The solution, obviously, was to make a brie-based cheese casserole and sprinkle with all kinds of delicious nuts, fruits and crumbly sweet filling. To do it yourself, you will need:
- About a pound of brie (I used two half pounds)
- 8-10 baguette slices (depending on the size of the casserole)
- 2 1/2 ounces crumbled gorgonzola (or your favorite blue cheese)
- 1 cup thick, fibrous, slightly sweet crackers (I used Trader Joe’s Fig & Olive chips, but digestive biscuits will work as well).
- 1/2 cup almonds (preferably marcon)
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit, if you prefer)
- 1/2 green apple, diced
- Honey for serving
Place the brie cheese in a baking dish to distribute it evenly. If you are using rounds, you may need to cut them up a bit. Surround the brie with a halo of chopped baguette.
Sprinkle on blue cheese.
In a food processor, grind the crackers, pecans, and almonds until you have a coarse mixture. Add brown sugar and beat again. Transfer to a bowl and add butter by hand until your crumb is dry. Add apple slices and dried cranberries. Spread this joyful filling all over the cheese.
Place everything in a 350-degree oven and bake for 35 minutes, until the top is browned and the cheese is completely melted.
Drizzle with honey (hot honey, if you have one) and serve with fresh grapes, because honestly, you’ll need something fresh and slightly tart to survive that decadent yet balanced dream of lactose fever.